Photos by "Uncle" Martin

Jamie's cousin Martin (Kian's Godfather who he called "Uncle" even though he's not realy) visited us a few weeks ago. He took some great pictures of Kian with his camera - here is a montage of what he sent to us :)

Kian is Missing Our Toby :(

Toby has been gone for about a month and a half but not one day goes by without thoughts of him.

Today has been kind of hard on Kian. We went to the store to buy some food for our cat, Allie. He talked about getting food for Toby and I told him that Toby didn't need food because he was in heaven. Then questions followed about Allie going to heaven and such.

A few hours later was Tae Kwon Do. They learn punches and kicks and after class the teacher talks to them about how we don't "practice" on other people or animals only at class. She talks about specific things in their lives so it really hits home. One questions the teacher asked today was if anyone had a dog - Kian half way raised his hand about four times. When we got home we talked about Toby again from his prompting - talked about how much we miss him.

Every night before bed we ask Kian if he wants to say his prayers. Most times he does. I always ask him what he's thankful for today. He always names off our family on down through grandparents and even "Uncle" Martin (who forgot his shoes lol - Martin left our shoes but he was known as this in Kian's prayers for a week!) or recent visitors. Then I ask him if he wants to ask Jesus for anything. He asked that Toby would come back home :( I believe he was talking about a book we have been reading called Dog Heaven. The books talks about how dogs go to heaven, have endless treats and spend time with angel children. And sometimes the dog wants to make sure their family is doing ok so it will come back and watch us and make sure everything is ok and then go back up to heaven.

We returned Dog Heaven back to the library last week. I think that it's a book we need to buy. Toby was such a big part of all our lives and even though we are almost two months out from his passing, we still miss him terribly.

Growing Pains

I guess it's time for Kian to do some more sprouting! This week Kian has had what seems to be either two lunches and/or dinners in one sitting! He will finish his food and keep asking for other things to eat!

This weekend we were going to head to the Stride Rite outlet for some new tennis shoes for him, but we are holding off now until this spurt seems to be over so we don't have to go back again lol

With every growth spurt some the cranks. I don't mind the sleeping more. I don't mind feeding him more of trying to find more healthful things for him to consume. But I do mind the cranks. There is no reasoning with a child with a case of the cranks. And really, the only cure for it seems to be an early bed time. Although, the symptoms will return the following day, most likely. I am hoping that if the cranks return tomorrow, that "resting" in his room will help - not only him but my sanity lol

Summer is coming to an end....

Summer seems to be winding down and it seems like it just got started!

Next week is our last week for the summer reading program at the library. It is also the last week of the Free Family Film Festival at the Regal in town. Those are two big activities that we participated in throughout the summer. The week after next we go to a meet-and-greet at Kian's new preschool. NFL preseason is staring up.

Needless to say, my focus has turned to getting long pants (thank GOD for whoever thought of adujustable waist pants or they would fall off Kian's small little waist!) and new tennis shoes. So odd since the weather is still hot and really summer can't be ending!

Ok, I admit it, I'm in denial.

Brush your teeth, Round and round....

Kian went to the dentist to for a check up and cleaning on Monday. Cavity free! He also had some x-rays done and we were told that in the next 6 months he will probably lose his bottom two front teeth! Dr. Josh let me know that was ok - he is just outside the norm on that and not to freak out when it happens lol I seriously didn't think the Tooth Fairy would be visiting us before his 5th birthday! I guess we will find out ;)

Visit from Granna

Jamie's mom arrived for a 5 day visit. She brought a TON of hot wheels cars and a storage case for them for Kian. They ended up playing with them for almost the entire time she was here!

We also went to the San Jose Children's Museum for the first time and took a trip to Discovery Kingdom for rides and zoo fun. Kian sure wore out quickly - he even napped in the car for probably the 3rd and 4th times in his entire life!

Jamie and I were also able to get out and get some time on our own which was very nice :)

Killing two birds with one stone - or should I say mouse....

This morning we came downstairs to "trophies" of Allie's victory last night. At first I thought it was playdoh but upon further inspection I could make out a tail and what seemed to be a nose.

At least she took care of the mouse that got in our house when the pipes were being re-routed. And now I don't have to worry about her eating this morning either - i am guessing her belly is pretty full right now lol

Miss Allie Update

Allie has seemed to have an epiphany of sorts because it's like she beccame a different cat seemingly overnight. I'm not sure if was because the anitibiotics she was on are now done or if it's because we have a mouse in our house again and she's been on the hunt....but whatever it is she is doing SO much better. I have not had to syringe feed her at all since Tuesday because she is eating on her own. I do have to put her in front of her bowl from time to time, but she is eating normally now :) She also purred last night for the first time in weeks while I pet her...it seems our kitty has returned! :)

With Allie getting well, I have had some new found energy and started getting creative again. I have gone a little crazy making signatures for myself and friends of mine. I also revamped the look of my blog :)

Good News on Allie

Allie seems to have been acting a little bit more like normal today. She is also eating more on her own then she has since she first got sick. She is also looking A LOT less yellow. I am encouraged but I am keeping a close eye on her.

Soccer Slideshow

As promised, here are photos of Kian's second soccer practice. Decked out in all his gear (the outfit is a Target special but super cute lol). We did finally get him cleats because his normal shoes just were not working with the shin guards - took us almost all day to hunt down a toddler sized pair small enough for him! Jamie has taken him out practicing in his cleats and he should be ready to go on Saturday morning again :) Enjoy the photos!

It's pretty bad when....

you have to find a game guide online to help your 4 year old son get through a part in Jimmy Nutron and the Attack of the Twonkies. A kids game that an adult has problems with the controls...wow.... At least he likes the game but sheesh, this game maker needs some serious help....either that or butt whooping from this momma!

The Great Purge

Our storage unit will be empty by the end of the month - it almost is now. We have removed all the stuff we have hauled around with us the last few years. Almost all our moves have been fast so we haven't had time to go through and purge. And the times we have, we have just not been real with what is worth keeping.

Most of the things in our storage unit were Kian's baby items - clothes, toys, bottles of every sort...you name it. We hung onto it just incase we did add to our family but now that we know it is complete it's time to say goodbye to all that stuff. As I have gone through tiny pants, socks, stained bips and burp clothes it brought back memories of my little man using them or being in them. It's time for a new baby to enjoy them and for the memories to keep in my mind and heart. I did keep a few things like the outfit we brough Kian home in, a favorite toy or two of his when he was a baby. Other than that we bid farewell to the rest and are happy to rid ourselves of it!

Big Brothers and Big Sisters will be very happy to receive our pile o' stuff. And it feels good to give it all away to help aid those in need. It's a win-win for everyone.

Happy Kian Update

This blog is supposed to be mainly about Kian so I decided to pop in a post on him detailing what's been happening with him over the last month or so.

Kian started Tae Kwon Do last month. He has really enjoyed it so far and has doing really well to taking instruction and listening. It's been helpful to him in many ways and I feel like it's building his confidence. I'm sure he likes the stickers and candy that the teachers shower on the kids afterwards too ;)

Kian also is a budding soccer champ! A few of my cousins on my dad's side of the family were/are very good at soccer and I keep telling Jamie that I must have had a recessive gene for that which was carried down to Kian. (Jamie says he almost has my cousin Dan's hair nailed down now that we are spiking it and it's pretty long right now lol!) Since Kian was very small he has done well kicking and now dribbling the ball. A few weeks ago was his first soccer class. They are working on the very, very basics - mainly following instructions and using your feet no hands and such. Kian is so stinkin' cute! He will be even cuter now that he has the shin guards, socks and little soccer jersey and pants to match ;) Don't worry, I will have pictures later.

We also started the reading program at the library and started attending story time, which Kian really has enjoyed so far. He loves picking out new books...although he does judge a book by it's cover and mom has to steer him toward ones she thinks he will like best ;) We just read one called Dog Heaven (was a suggestion from one of my friends on a message board) - what an amazing book about what dogs do in heaven and how God and angels love on them...and that they get to come and visit us when they want....kinda got me choked up a bit reading it to him.

I also recently discovered that the Regal cinema in the town over offers free movies on Wednesday mornings so Kian and I went to that. It was a good way to start the day and get out of the house - especially since it's too hot to really do much outside :P

We have had a pretty eventful summer so far (good and bad), but I think we will really enjoy the rest as we see Kian grow and progress.

Allie Update

I spoke with the vet today and he said that Allie hopefully will be able to pull through all the issues with eating food. She is eating on her own but it's not as much as she should be so I am syringe feeding her until she is more back to herself. She is very sleepy, has low energy and hides out most of the time. I am hoping my nursing will help her come back to being herself.

Allie is sick now :(

Since Toby started getting sick Allie (our cat) has been kinda aloof. She hasn't been using her box or eating a whole lot. Honestly, I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to her when I was taking care of Toby - and since Allie was very close to Toby I figured she was just sad he was so sick.

Well, things got worse on Saturday when we hadn't seen her at all...not even for a pet, a drink...nothing....and it just continued like that through the weekednd. So I called the vet yesterday - the soonest appt we could get was for today.

The assistant that helped us today was the one that helped us with Toby the whole time we were going with him. She was so sweet and I told her how much it meant to us that she was there when Toby went to heaven (she even cried with us :( ) Anyway, she took Allie's temp and said - "Her skin is yellow." I thought was being an overprotective furmommy - but it turns out that Allie is jaundice.

The vet told me that it's possible that Allie might have a fatty liver because she is overweight. He said that it is possible she stopped eating because she was depressed and that caused her body to take that fat that is stored and transfers it to the liver somehow. I am not doing very good explaining it well because I barely understand it and really it was the last thing I thought I would hear a little over the week after we said goodbye to Toby.

She was hydrated under the skin, given some antibiotic and we were sent home with some meds and special food for her. Getting food in her is really important right now to get the liver back to working. They also did some blood work of which we will have results on tomorrow. I am praying and hoping for good news.

Settling into a New Normal

Exactly one week ago today we said goodbye to our Toby. We have given his things to friends who have dogs and kept a few things that were just too hard to part with...like his bone (which he LOVED), his color and leash, and his dog bowl with his name on it.

Kian has had a few moments of tears off and on this week and when asked why he was upset he would say he misses Toby. It seems to be at the times that would normally do things for him that we miss him the most. The latest for myself was when Kian didn't finish his carrots with lunch and I wanted to put the rest in Toby's dish for him...he loved carrots.

It really is surreal that he is gone. It all happened so fast and he was a healthy, older dog in general. We miss him loads but are so glad that he is at rest and no longer suffering.

It has been a hard week on all of us in general. All last week our downstairs had holes in it with lots of noise from the plummer re-routing our pipes. Kian and I camped out upstairs to stay out of the way (and really, everything was moved around so there was nothign really do down there anyway). He stayed entertained well until the last day...thank GOD it was the last day! So now, our house is back in order and you really can't even tell anything was done besides the fact that some of the areas need paint. We plan to do some new colors when our budget allows.

Yesterday we celebrated the 4th of July with some friends who had a BBQ. We went to see Kung Fu Panda and then afterwards watched the fireworks from on top of the parking structure downtown. Kian wasn't as into as I thought he would be but we were pretty far off fromt he show...enough to see it well but I think that next year we are going to go to the festival in town. Kian did have a good time and did fairly well despite staying up several hours past his bedtime.

Today we are taking it easy. Jamie and Kian are playing Lego Star Wars together on the 360 and I am just dinking around on my computer. It's so good to have our family all together this weekend and to focus on positive, relaxing things.

Update...

First of all thank you all for your kind words and thoughts for our family. Our house feels empty without Toby in it - but I am so glad he's at peace now. And even though it might sound silly, I believe his spirit is with us still. He always had to be somewhere near us somehow. That is one of the reasons why we wanted to get his ashes with us. Toby would have wanted that.

Each day things seem to get a little bit better...but man does it feel like a punch in the gut (as my dear friend Shawna says) when the times of the day roll around that I used to do things for Toby. The house does have an odd quiet about it too.

Yesterday we went to the amusement park that we have seasons passes to just to get out of the house and do something fun as a family. It was a good distraction is so many ways. I have been Toby's nurse over the last few weeks that I know Kian has had to feel slightly ignored. It was a great family time for us all.

Kian seems to be taking things better than I expected. He really misses him though. Yesterday we dropped off a lot of stuff we had for Toby at some good friends of ours. They have two BIG dogs and we figured they might be able to use the stuff. Kian loves those dogs...they are still puppies so they love to run and have almost as much energy as he does! Kian kept asking to go back and see them after we left....luckily we will get to do that this weekend and quite a bit after that since they live right down the road from us. Then, after we got back from the amusement park and we opened the door Kian called for Toby....we had to remind him he was in heaven. Toby was ALWAYS waiting for us right at the door...wanting to sniff us before we even walked in lol Sometimes we had to tell him to get back because we couldn't get inside lol!

Right now we are all trying to focus on the wonderful times we had with Toby. Toby was born the month that me and Jamie met and the first decision that Jamie and I ever made together was naming him. He has been with us this whole time - he was and still is apart of our family.

Remembering Toby

Goodbye Faithful Friend....

Dear Friends and Family,

Please excuse the mass email, but I wanted to get the word out to you all quickly.

Today we said goodbye to our 7 1/2 year old black lab, Toby. He became sick three weeks ago and became progressively worse. This afternoon Jamie and I loved on Toby as he went to sleep for the last time. (Kian stayed with a neighbor.)

We are devastated at the loss of our faithful friend and companion. He was an unbelievably obedient and gentle dog. His presence is missed beyond any words I can say. We are thankful for the wonderful times and moments he has been with us, but it is hard to imagine life without him.

Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts - and we ask that you continue to send them our way as we all grieve the loss of our friend.

Love from all of us,
Sarah

Prayers for Toby

I just spoke with the specialist that Toby saw on Tuesday. He said to give the meds through the weekend to see if he's improved. If he is not improved a lot by Monday then Toby will need to go to sleep forever. If you can send prayers, mojo, thoughts, what-have-you our way we would deeply appreciate it.

Thursday Update

Leak Issue

We finally got the second plummer out here to give us a quote for the class action suit. He has done a lot of the units that our condo is in. He is only going to need to make 12X12 holes because he knows where all the pipes are in these places. We decided to go with him and the class action people said they will have a check for us by Tuesday. The plummers are coming tomorrow to start their 4-5 days of work on our place. At least the ball is rolling and this will all be over soon.

Toby Update

The thyroid meds have seemed to help his bowel issue. He is drinking more often and seem less drooly. Other than that the rest is the same...he's still pretty weak and doesn't really have much interest in eating. He ate well the day that we got back from the vets but today and yesterday he has no interst really. My hope is waivering...

A Glimmer of Hope

We went to the specialist today and found out that Toby has one of three conditions...two are not good at all but the third and best of all is a thyroid condition. The doctor did some xrays on Toby to make sure that he didn't have pnumonia and that his esophogus is working. Everything looked normal. And from blood work done last week we know that his organs are all functioning normally.

The vet gave us thyroid meds and a diet of making meatballs out of the prescription dog food and kinda giving them to Toby so the he's getting food in him. I have made them and have been hand feeding them to him slowly...as he's not had food in a while but he is seriously hungry...just can't get the food to get in there because of the weakness in his mouth.

I gave him a thyroid pill before we got on the road after our visit. The vet said to call him at the end of the week and let him know how Toby is doing.

We are ALL hoping for the best.

Not good news X 2

We met with Toby's vet today. Apparently the fill in doctor I talked to on Monday did not have the right information on what is wrong with him and our regular vet explained why and what the next step would be. He referred us to a specialist that will do further testing (if we wish) on Toby. But right now the prognonsis doesn't sound like it will be good nor an easy fix. Since this weekend one of Toby's eyes has been drooping and now he's not eating. One of the vet assistants mentioned that he may have had a stroke :(

We have an appointment with the specialist tomorrow at noon. Honestly, we are not hopeful. I will update when I can on this.

The Leek

Apparently when the builders constructed the condos we live in they were in a hurry and botched a job with the plumbing – it is not accessible for easy repair. Well, on Thursday our neighbor came over and said she had water in her kitchen….the opposite wall to our place is in our laundry room. Luckily we didn't have any water, but we are not going through a bunch of junk to try to get this repaired as quickly as possible.

There is a class action law suit to get the repairs done to each of our place. We have to have our hot water lines all rerouted :P At least the class action people will pay for that and our insurance will cover the rest….but man let's just say this is not good timing at all.

The good thing for our neighbors is that they were replacing their kitchen things anyway…but man….this is not going to be pretty or fun :(

Toby Update 2.5

Well, toby needs more testing done and we have an appointment to do that on Monday afternoon. His liver enzymes are up which means it is enlarged or has a mass...so he needs x-rays to tell us about that. They are also going to do more blood tests because the doctor thinks that he might have a thyroid issue. If it is just the thyroid then it will be an easy fix apparently with meds. The blood work also showed he has an infection and digestive issues, which he already has meds for. So he has a myriad of things going on - although I am not sure if any of them are related. Our normal doctor was not in and the one that was filling in for him was just giving me information - I feel better talking to our doctor seeing that he knows Toby.

More of an update after we know more on Monday - hopefully.

Short Toby Update

Toby has been put on more meds and a special diet again. He also is having blood work done to see how his kidney and liver are functioning. We will have the results back from that tomorrow.

Toby...

A few weeks ago Toby, our 7 1/2 year old black lab, had some kind of stomach issue that required a trip to the vet. The issue was mainly resolved but his hind legs have really started to bother him. He's now to the point where he is having a really hard time getting around....plus he is still having some digestive issues (to spare the details). Jamie has noticed that the leg he is having issues with seems to the one that he had the tumor removed from two summers ago.

Tomorrow we are taking him to the vet again. We have no idea what the outcome will be from the visit but I am honestly preparing for the worst.

Any prayers and thoughts you can spare for Toby would be appreciated.

Tae Kwon Do, Soccer, Beckham, and Father's Day

This summer we decided to bump Kian down to going to preschool one day a week. The rec department has some really great programs so we signed Kian up for Tae Kwon Do and Soccer!

Yesterday was his first Tae Kwon Do class. It was so cute to watch all the kids doing kicks and practicing standing at attention :) Kian had a hard time calming down - he was SO excited to be there! Hopefully he will start to focus more.

We are going to see David Beckham!!!

In case you aren't sure who I am talking about, David Beckham is a soccer star who joined the LA Galaxy team after leaving England. Ever since he arrived here, Jamie has wanted to see him play. Well, EA had a deal on tickets for tonight's game! So we got three of them as Jamie's Father's Day gift! This will be Kian's first professional game - and really we haven't watched much soccer so it should be interesting and fun!

Our Crazy Last Few Weeks – Good but Crazy

First weekend in May – Kian’s Birthday Party

Second weekend in May - Discovery Kingdom (Trip 1) and Mother’s Day

Our friends Steve and Lisa accompanied us on our first trip to Discovery Kingdom and the following day was Mother’s Day. (I posted already about this if you want to revisit for most details).

Third Weekend in May – The Scottish Games and Discovery Kingdom (Trip 2)

Saturday morning we got up, headed to Costco to stimulate the economy by reloading our freezer and then we headed to the annual Scottish Games held in our city. We got to see knights jousting, dogs herding sheep, ate fish and chips (ok, I did lol), listened to lots of Celtic music, and had some ale. They also had a kids area that had two big, castle themed, jumpy houses. Kian had a BLAST! It was flippin’ hot that day, but having a cold ale and letting Kian run from jumpy house to jumpy house. It was a great day :)

Short video of Kian dancing to some Celtic music while he ate his lunch;


This trip to Discovery Kingdom we went with our friends Greg and Rachael. We all had a blast – well I know that the three of us did anyway ;) Kian got to feed a giraffe and we got to see a really cool tiger show. We spent most of the day at the park – looking at animals, taking photos and feeding the giraffes. Kian also go to “pet” some stingrays and had an enormous walrus named Jocko follow him around the underwater viewing window. There is a video attached of that – so neat (oh, and Jocko was “happy” just be forewarned lol) Oh, and one important thing we learned was that Sunday is THE BEST day to go to the park – no one was there!

Fourth Weekend in May – Maggie’s Graduation Party in Los Angeles area

We kicked off this weekend early – well extra special stuff happened on Wednesday. My friend Shawna was in town and came to visit us! This was extra special because about two years ago I reconnected with her via the wonders of MySpace. This is someone I went to Kindergarten with – can you believe I knew her when we were both around Kian’s age?!?! We hung out a lot at the end of elementary school and then went different ways. When we found each other on MySpace we found we really connected and became friends :) This is the first time we have seen each other in God only knows how long. It was a short visit but a great one. Kian even said a little prayer thanking God for Shawna and Christine (her friend that came along) that was not prompted by me at all.

On Friday we packed up the family (Toby included) and headed south for my cousin Maggie’s college graduation. It was a luau complete with some awesome BBQ and Wisconsin summer sausage (can I get a WOOT?) It was a 5 hour trek one way but it went by fast and was so worth it :) Thanks to the person that invented the portable DVD player and the Game Boy.

Kian and I apparently kicked my grandparents out of having a place to stay so they couldn’t come for the celebration - ok not really lol Although, my Grandpa will tell you that! The week before the party, my Grandpa underwent open heart surgery and had a triple bypass! Thankfully his only symptom of the blockage was fatigue, but he still recovering and having a pace maker installed. We were sad that they couldn’t make it to the party, but we are happy that we still have our grandpa. Kian has prayed for him nightly (mostly without prompting) for his heart’s boo-boos to heal. He is still on the mend so any prayers or thoughts you can send his way are greatly appreciated!

My Aunt Lori volunteered her babysitting services (in exchange for some movie popcorn – oddly enough my Mom accepts the same payment…hmmm…sounds like a deal to me!) so that Jamie and I could see a late showing of the new Indiana Jones movie (which was ok, but I was glad we saw it in the theater.

We enjoyed spending time with family and helping out where we could. I think Toby enjoyed himself more than any of us, in fact, he was spoiled so much by my Aunt Lori that I think he was a little depressed to be home lol! We were so glad that we lived close enough to make it down.

Phew! So that brings us up to the present. Jamie is back to normal hours at work now, which is very nice, and we are just taking it easy this weekend. The only new thing to report is that Kian is a Spongebob Squarepants fanatic now lol

The Bug Was Not Gone :(

....because I got it the day before Kian's birthday :( I was in bed all day and wasn't able to even make cupcakes as I had planned. I did manage to get his gifts wrapped and Jamie brought them all upstairs so I could see him open them. He had a great time playing with all of them from what Jamie told me and from what I heard of the new toys "talking" and buzzing downstairs. I felt SO bad that I was so sick on my little man's big day :(

Here is a slideshow of Kian ripping through all his gifts in record speed!

Friday I rested and felt ok. Saturday we went to Discovery Kingdom with our friends Steve and Lisa. Since this was Kian's big birthday thing - we let him ride an elephant (daddy rode too of course). Since Lisa has a "bun in the oven" (hehe) she wasn't able to ride any rides - not even Thomas the Train! So she had to hang back with me and Kian. We went to several shows - which we all liked and hung out at Thomas Town for a while (well we were stranded thanks to a broken lock on the stroller that Jamie saved the day by fixing when he arrived). Next year she will be able to ride though and I will gladly hang back with little baby "D."

Here is a slide show of our time at Discovery Kingdom. Since my stomach was still recovering, Daddy rode everything with Kian.

Well, Sunday, Mother's Day, I was down again. Just felt like crud. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband that let me hang out in bed when I needed to. i did manage to get energy enough to go shopping at Kohl's and use a coupon I got along with our economic stimulation check to buy me some new pants. The ones I own have been falling off of my body! I didn't realize how much weight I really lost until recently! Anyway, the check came at a good time so I wouldn't be walking around with the possibility of my pants falling down walking across the street. lol

Jamie also did me a big favor and defrosted my deep freeze WOOT! This weekend we are going to restock - thanks again to the US governement lol

As of now I am on the mend. Kian and I have mainly hung out at the house and just took things easy. The house has been a complete wreck so I have been slowly working on areas without burning myself out energy wise.

We are gearing up for another big weekend. Saturday we are going to go to the Scottish Games Festival in town. Sunday we are going to go back to Discovery Kingdom with some other friends of ours. May has been a busy month for us so far and hopefully the illness is behind us now :)

Kian's 4th Birthday Party!

We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends! Saturday our house quickly filled up with people who love Kian and came to celebrate him coming into his 4th year! Kian LOVED having so many friends over and was itching to dig into the Lightening McQueen cake I made him as well as his presents hehehe We grilled hotdogs, had my mom's famous baked beans and some carrots (which is one of Kian's faves). The of course there was cake an ice cream :)

Kian got LOTS of wonderful gifts! He has spent all morning playing with all of them! He even received a gift card which he has almost spent all of already on a remote control Lightening McQueen ;) The biggest gift he got was a GameBoy Mini from Jamie and me. In fact, it's a good thing that he opened gifts toward the end because he spent the rest of the time zoned into the games he got lol

Here are some photos of the festivities!





Kian showing he's 4


Yummy CAKE!






Kian got a Cars game for his GameBoy!


Rachael, the pro, showing Kian how to work his new GameBoy :)






Kian, smiling because he was told to but really wants to be playing his game lol!


This is what Kian looked like for the rest of the night LOL!

We are Bug Free!!!

Well, our house is bug free!!! Well, if the stomach bug anyway lol Kian happily returned to preschool today.

Kian's teacher did a tested each kid indiviually on how ready they are for kindergarten. Kian excelled everything! She has yet to do the writing test, but we know that is something he needs to work on. She is trying to see where each kid is at to see what they need to work on.

While Kian was at school I was able to do a lot of running around and prep work for Kian's party on Saturday. Since I had been playing nurse for about a week, the house was a wreck and there were a lot of things that needed attending to :P We have a pretty busy rest of the week - but I am SUPER excited for Kian! He knows he's having a party but I dn't think he knows how many people will be here :) It's going to be a good time :)

The Bug

Well, Kian got the stomach flu early on Thursday morning. It was so bad I had to camp out with a blanket and pillow on his bedroom floor. He continues to be sick throughout the day on Thursday but seemed to perk up a bit toward the end of the night. He was ok through the night but when he woke up in the morning and had some pedialyte he couldn't keep that down :( He was getting lethargic so off to the doctor we went to make sure nothing else was going on. We left with a presription of the BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast).

Unfortunately Jamie is feeling pretty sick himself so he stayed home from work. Since I really needed to pick up somethings at the store I left the two of them to be bumps on the couch together while I went to a few stores.

When I came back home an hour or so later I was happily greeted by Kian. I was like, wow, I guess my kid is back lol He was talking a mile a minute and wanted to help me unload groceries :) He's now keeping things down, but he's still under the weather. i bought him the movie Shrek so he would have something new to watch so he is doing that right now as he eats a banana. i am hpiong the rest of the day he just gets better and better.

My New Car Decals!

I have been wanting to get those stick figure family decals for a while. But I could never find anything I liked. I NEVER wear dresses and I wanted something to suit myself and my family. So I turned to ebay. I didn't find stick figures but I found something else :) I ordered them on Saturday and got them TODAY! CRAZY! And my order was personalized. I asked for some additions and had personalized wording on both of them :)

Anyway, here they are! ;)


Full shot of the back of my car - I erased my plate numbers lol

The "Family" one:

Here is the other one:

New Pictures on Snapfish

So, I have been a big time slacker with getting photos uploaded to my snapfish account. The last I had uploaded was in November 2007 ::blush::

I shared the albums so if you are on the list to view, you will get an email to view them. If you didn't get an email and would like to see the photos, just reply with a note to this post and i will get in touch with you to get you on the list to view :)

Update to Kian's Wishlist

We made some updates to Kian's Target wishlist. I removed some things and added somethings. Take a look if you wish :)

Kian's First Ripped Pants

Tonight I was getting Kian's clothes laid out for the next day. I was looking at a pair of jeans he had worn this weekend once to see if he could wear them to school tomorrow. well, I noticed that one knee has a rip in it and needs a repair - how cute is that! It's his first (yes, i know of many), but it just made me think of how much of a big boy he's getting to be!

Kian's Birthday Planning, Spring Cleaning and Scooby Doo

Kian's Birthday is ONE Month from Today!

I can't believe that one month from today my little Kian will be 4!!!! Sheesh time just flies!

I have been planning for a small party for Kian. He has decided on a Cars (the Pixar/Disney movie Cars) as his theme. I am going to make a Lightening McQueen cake (wish me luck!). I have yet to buy party supplies. And I am hoping to be able to make some special invites to his party. I just need Kian to keep his forehead bruise free so I can get a photo of him for them LOL The little turkey seems to get a bruise RIGHT on his forhead every time we want to take photos around his birthday lol I might have to resort of trying to photoshop it out :P

The Spring Cleaning Bug has Bit Us

Jamie started some spring cleaning this weekend. I have continued on that note int he kitchen and pantry areas. I have done a lot of rearranging, purging, and donating. Thankfully on Thursday Big Brothers and Sisters is picking up donations. It is nice to get rid of some things that others can use that we just haven't in years.

Scooby Doo - Where are You?!?!

Kian has discovered Scooby Doo and man has it brought back a lot of memories! Tivo has been recording it as a suggestion. It's funny because when I was his age and older Scooby Doo was one of my FAVORITE shows! We are having a lot of fun watching episodes together from time to time :)

Man-to-Man Time

Jamie and Kian started a new tradition last month. Every Saturday they have their own time together. Jamie takes Kian to have breakfast at McDonalds and then the go out and do something together. Usually it means a trip to Best Buy :)

Kian really looks forward to that time with his Daddy. I am so glad that they started it :)

Kian really likes his new teacher

Kian is such a sweetie! Today when I picked him up from school his teacher, Miss Perry, told me that he told her "I love you" and gave her a hug and kiss! He rarely gives those to people outside our family so I know that he really does love Miss Perry. How sweet is that!

Speech Update and other random things

Speech Update

I am currently in the works of getting Kian started with a new speech therapist. They are trying to get him into group therapy - but right now our schedule doesn't line up great with other kids his age. We can do solo therapy though and it looks like we will be going that route. He will start with the new therapist on Thursday.

Kian is Writing!

Here is a photo of Kian's hand writing. His teacher wrote where he did it by himself. Right now we are working on writing and cutting as he wants to at home. We are so proud of him!

Jon and Kate Plus 8

If you haven't watched Jon and Kate Plus Eight you should! I have really enjoyed watching the show. It's about a family that has a set of twins and then sextuplets that are pretty much the same age as Kian. It's fun to see a family interacting with their kiddos and seeing them going through some of the exact same things that we are. If you want a peak into what Kian's like right now, then watch some of their recent episodes and imagine there only being one instead of 6 LOL!

Kian's Birthday Wishlists!!!

Kian's birthday is just around the corner! I cannot believe my little man will be 4!!!!

In order to make things easier on everyone, we made a list of things that Kian would love to have. He is set with summer clothing. And since most of you all don't see him very often and do not know what kinds of toys he's into or what he has, we made these lists so that we don't get duplicates and Kian gets what he would like :)

Kian also LOVES to spend money that he is given so giftcards and cash is definately something he would want :)

The links to the list are located on the right column of my blog - under Kian's Birthday Wishlists!!! Click on the link and it should take you right there :)

A New Look and a New Address

I finally realized that I could make my own personal topper to my blog! So, I went a head and did that :)

I also decided to make this blog's web address Life With Kian. So the new link to get there is http://lifewithkian.blogspot.com/

Slide Show of our trip to Canada

Unfortuantely we didn't get any shots of that really great snowfall...we just got shots from when it started falling. Kian was so excited :)

The snow started to fall while we were in our hotel room! Kian was so excited!!



Kian in Awe of Snow!!!




Catching snowflakes on his tounge hehe


Kian on a ride at the mall :)




Making music with a new friend


Our little musician :)

New Preschool Teacher, Health Update, and our trip to Canada

New Preschool Teacher

So, last week I went in to drop off Kian at school to hear that his teacher had to give her two week notice :( Kian was really doing well under her instruction so I am pretty disappointed. They do have someone else who is going to be taking over. She has never taught before, so hopefully it goes well. I know that Kian will benefit from the social interactions for sure. The new teacher will start on Tuesday so we will see how it goes. Kian is so easy going, I'm sure he will love going there :)

Health Update

Kian and I ended up with ear infections last week. We both went to the doctor on Tuesday - luckily both are in the same area so I kind of made the appointments back to back. I wanted to make sure that we were both ok since we were going to be taking a long weekend trip to Canada and be on an airplane. I had some ear pain but Kian had none that I knew of and he had a pretty bad infection. We have both been on antibiotics :P

Our Trip to Canada

Kian did great on the plane rides. I made sure we had lots of snacks and such for him. It definately was a breeze flying with him having Jamie with me to help out. I didn't fare so well on the plane - I still have a bad cold and the pressure from the congestion was very painful on landing and take off. In fact, I am still dealing with a plugged ear from all of it :P

Kian got to see snow for the first time this last weekend! He was VERY excited about it! But going from about 70 degree weather to around 30 was quite a shock to him. I tried to go for a short walk with him outside and he didn't really like the cold - I don't blame him - although it didn't seem too bad to me. For him, that is the first time he felt cold like that!

We got to visit some of Jamie's friends that live in the area and Kian made some new ones too since the friends have children around Kian's age. Everyone is so friendly around there. They seem very stress free - wouldn't that be nice lol

I have to say that one BIG thing I noticed was that people in Canada are VERY allergy aware! Highly!!! There are several local bakeries that are completely nut free and at the one restaurant we ate at, we let them know of Kian's allergy (as usual) and they were keenly aware of what to look for. I am so compeltely impressed and wished that somehow this care could be passed on to Americans too!

We arrived back home on Sunday. It was nice to be home where everything was familiar and warm :)

St. Patrick's Day!

Monday was St. Patrick's Day! I hope you wore green!!!

I wasn't able to do all I had planned since we had just got back from our trip to Canada. But we did have corned beef, potatoes, and cabbage salad. Of course we all wore green, Irish shirts and I played music by the Chieftains as I cooked (ok, I listen to that normally, so I guess it wasn't different lol!). I am longing for March 17th to land on a Saturday or a Sunday to have a big shindig with friends. Ah, I guess someday it will ;)

It's kind of a bummer that Easter is less than a week away from St. Patty's Day. Kian is counting down the sleeps until the "Easter Bunny comes to our door." He's pretty excited about that, and honestly so am I ;) Having a child really brings back some magic that was lost as we grew and stopped believing in those things. Now that we ARE those "things" I guess it makes it fun ;)

Kian is sick :(

I think that Jamie is battling the flu right now. Kian is running a fever of 102 - I have started him on motrin. He's in good spirits but i can tell he's congested. Please send some prayers his way...with his asthma he's high risk :( He had his flu shot this year, but it may have worn off by now...not to mention they apparently predicted the wrong strain of the virus.... Just please keep the prayers rolling.

Our Crazy Week

Illness - bleh

We have been struck with illness in this house...the last week we all over came one virus and now I am pretty sure Jamie has the flu. Jamie even came home early from work yesterday and his home today. He has all the classic signs of the flu...he seems to be doing ok but he feel pretty crappy.

I am praying that Kian's flu shot holds - that's it the right strain....bleh I am so worried about him getting it.

Craziness with Kian

This week has been an interesting one in our household. Kian’s speech therapist has been forceful with me again about giving him a full team assessment. This is something meant for kids that have severe issues – Kian does not fit the bill. I even spoke to his preschool teacher this week to get her feel on things and she doesn’t have ANY concerns about him. In fact, she told me he’s the head of the class and he already knows everything he needs to know for kindergarten! In fact, she’s trying to find things for him to work on that will challenge him – she is working on writing with him now! Since the preschool teacher spends 3 hours two times a week with Kian and his therapist only spends 20 minutes once a week with him.

Here are the things that the speech therapist brought up with me on Tuesday. Keep in mind that he is a 3 ½ year old:

- He holds a crayon with his fist (but not all the time) - she thinks he has poor motor skills. At home he can shoot a basketball, undress and dress himself without really any aid (unless he has buttons like on a shirt) even on down to socks and shoes with velcro. This is what she thinks he needs physical therepy for, which I do not.

- He does not know how to start and end a conversation.

- He changes the subject when talking sometimes. (who doesn’t!??!)

- Her son babysits for us and the last time he did so she told me that Kian was trying to injure our dog. What he was doing was running his HUGE monster truck near our dog - he does this when we are home and I think he does it because the dog will get up and move suddenly. She told me he was hurting our dog, and I have never seen Kian hurt our dog since he was probably 1 year old and poking our dog in the eyeball (lol!)

- He has poor eye contact. With this I have to be honest and say he's improving. He didn't see the therapist one week and he seemed dramatically improved. Now he's kind of reverting back...I don't use the techniques that she has asked me to use with him. I just make sure that when I talk to him that i am looking at him in the eye and he does it even though I do not demand it from him like she does.

Anyway, I decided to call the district's speech pathologist. She does all the evaluations for the school district and is familiar with Kian. I told her about how Kian's therapist wants him to have a full team assessment (which means he see four different specialists in a 2 hour period of time). But I don't feel like there is a reason for him to go in. It's apparent to me that Kian's therapist has no idea what this assessment is for. It's really just to see if a child qualifies for the special ed preschool - which it's clear that Kian does not need. The pathologist listed off a bunch of things that Kian would have issues with....let me tell ya that none of them are even remotely a concern.
Unfortunately, the pathologist does not know Kian's therapist personally and is not even sure if she is employed by the district or if she is out sourced (since speech is done as a state deal, they have to provide service for all the children in need so sometimes they have to outsource).

I also shared with her that the therapist does not really listen to me when I try to tell her that things are not the way she is representing them to be. She has also discussed Kian with her school's psychologist (without my permission) which really did not sit well with the pathologist. Then after I informed her about how the therapist's son babysits Kian and about the dog incident that I mentioned above, the pathologist said that there is not a clear set of boundaries here and she asked if I would feel more comfortable with Kian seeing a different therapist since I am feeling like I will pull Kian from speech all together because of the attitude that this therapist is taking with him. I guess it's impossible for me to pull Kian from speech and then later try to get him back in – so she finally suggested that she try to find an opening for Kian to see a different therapist.

I honestly do still feel like he needs improvement with his speech, but I do not agree with some of the stuff that she is doing with Kian and how she goes about it. Especially the eye contact thing, it seems like she is making it worse! Ugh!

This afternoon I got a call from the pathologist saying that they are working on getting Kian a new therapist! WOOT!

I guess they are wanting to talk to this off-her-rocker therapist to tell her what is going on and let her know we are switching. She is going to be out of town this week but on Friday she will be back and I will get another phone call letting me know what is going on exactly.

I am very encouraged. The pathologist said it looks like he is going to be paired with someone she knows and trusts which makes me feel very relieved!

She also told me, therapists are supposed to be working on speech - nothing else. His first therapist that is not what this person was doing.

Anyway, I feel like I'm not crazy and good about where we are headed with this :)

Jameson and Sarah - 6 Years!!!

It's hard to believe that 6 years ago this weekend I married my best friend :) I wouldn't have imagined the crazy road life has taken us! Even though the road was crazy it has been good and we definately have been blessed :)

Tonight, Jamie and I went out for our anniversary celebration. Kian had our speech therepist's son, Kevin, come over to "play" with Kian while we went out. Kian was SO excited for Kian to come over! He was playing a new video game when Kevin arrived. Kian quickly abandoned it and bolted down the stairs! That speaks volumes to how much he loves being with Kevin :)

Jamie and I went to a movie and had dinner at a non-Kian friendly place. Boy it was nice!! We are going to try to make a monthly deal.

Some Good News - Some Bad News

Good News

Kian is THRIVING in preschool. Today I went to pick him up and he actually cried because he had to leave lol He really loves school and it's been so neat to watch him interact with the other kids when I pick him up. This preschool is definately a great find and I am so grateful for it! He's enjoying himself so much that he actually cried when I went to pick him up LOL!

Bad News

I lost my job yesterday - actually it was more like a week ago...I have not been paid for the last two weeks now. If you could please keep us in your thoughts and prayers - things are going to be beyond tight for us.

Kian gets a Big Boy Bed!!!

We finally broke down (well after Kian took apart part of his convereted toddler bed on Friday) and bought Kian a big boy bed. He already had the blue furniture from IKEA and the bed is from the same collection...the table and chairs as well :) We still need to get some more decor on the walls in there so it looks kinda bare :P Anyway, here it is!

Walking into the door:

Family of Tattoos

Today Jamie got his first tattoo. This is the symbol that the famous artist JR Tolkien used. He authored the books surrounding The Lord of the Rings. Jamie has always been a big fan.


So, on the way over to the tattoo shop I told Jamie that I had a vision of my next tattoo. I wanted three shamrocks (representing each person in our family) and Kian's name underneath it. The guy that did Jamie's tattoo (and who did my last one) had an open appt right after Jamie's so I did mine too!





Well, of course Kian wanted a tattoo too so when we were at Target getting stuff to keep our tattoos from getting dry we found some Cars temporary tattoos.

We Officially have a Preschooler In The House!!!!

This morning I called and cancelled our Mommy and Me class so that we could enroll Kian in preschool two half days a week :)

All weekened long Kian was talking to me about class. He asked if we could go to class EVERY morning he wakes up and if we get in the car to go somewhere, he asks if we are going to class. He loved it!

The original plan was for us to go to Mommy and Me until the session was over in the middle of March. But Kian thrived so much on Friday that we decided to cancel the class and enroll him on Wednesdays at preschool.

I am so excited for him and really Kian is too :) So it's official...Kian is a preschooler!!

Kian's First Day of Preschool!!!!

Today was Kian's first day of preschool on his own. We have been going to a Mommy and Me class that is like preschool but I go with him since this fall. Well, I finally found a place that will take Kian mid year. It's a new school so the class is really small, but I liked how they did things and they are very peanut aware.

So, I dropped him off this morning at 9AM. I said goodbye and told him I would be back when class was over. As I walked away i could see him in the same position I left him in when I said goodbye and I waved to him a few times. He just stood and looked. I was afraid that he might cry...but I guess he was ok :)

I had to run a few errands and when I got back home I felt naked without my little sidekick! I have been a SAHM since the moment Kian was born. We don't have any family around us so it's just the three of us and really just the two of us most of the time. I found myself checking the clock continuously while the phone sat next to me the whole 3 hours Kian was gone!
Well, Kian LOVED it! He did awesome. He participated in everything and was SO excited to tell me all about what he did and show me his art :) He even went on to tell me about everything he did and would say every so often "that was kinda cool" (that is one of his favorite phrases right now lol)

I am so excited for him and can't wait until Mommy and Me is over so he can start going two days a week to preschool instead of one :)